Warm Audio WA-1B Single Channel Tube Optical Compressor
The WA-1B accurately recreates world-class Scandinavian compression combining smooth tube-optical warmth with precision controls. Like its original inspiration favored by producers and engineers from Chris Lord-Alge to Rick Rubin, the WA-1B delivers that revered “forgiving” musical compression of tube-optical circuitry with speed and control more closely associated with modern dynamics processing. As the compressor of choice for many of the most profound vocal performances, this style of compression has shaped the sound of recordings by artists such as Adele, Dr. Dre, Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones, The Black Keys and many more. With premium components and meticulous circuit design, the WA-1B has all of the tone and characteristics of the most celebrated compression that blends vintage tone with modern control.
Tube-Optical Tone, Modern Dynamic Control
Hand-wired to authentically recreate the sound of a renowned circuit, the WA-1B uses carefully selected components to recreate a style of compression that remains sought-after, yet unattainable. Select tubes are paired to achieve the perfect balance between vintage tone and modern performance. The WA-1B uses custom, large-core transformers from Lundahl Sweden, which help transfer all of the rich, articulate, “forgiving” analog tone from the tubes to the signal. As a catalyst for its impeccable “transparent” compression, the WA-1B features a premium optical attenuator for smooth and musical compression, making it a clear choice for vocals, instruments, and any highly dynamic source or program material that requires control without sacrificing tone. All of these critical components are handwired with through-hole soldering in a true-to-spec, 100% analog 270 volt circuit. Following the Warm Formula of true-to-original tone driven by premium components, all WA-1B compressors are carefully hand-inspected & tested at Warm Audio Headquarters in Austin, Texas.
Natural, Musical, & Forgiving: Even At Fast Settings
The WA-1B compressor delivers a signature Scandinavian style of compression renowned for its exceptional analog performance with modern features. Delivering the sonic versatility of the original, the WA-1B spans pristine, transparent compression that maintains the clarity of audio sources to create rich and harmonically saturated tones when the tubes are driven to saturation. Ready to take recordings to the next level, the WA-1B has all of the key controls normally absent from more vintage optical compressors. Using the threshold, ratio, attack, release, and makeup gain controls allows for precise dynamic control and tone shaping without sacrificing vintage tube-optical tone. The controllable attack time with faster available speeds and program-dependent release controls contribute to the very forgiving character of the compressor. The dedicated sidechain bus selector offers three positions (Off, Bus 1, Bus 2), allowing you to interconnect and link up to 10 WA-1B compressors in your signal chain. Rounding out the set of critical pro recording features on the WA-1B is the front-mounted meter-adjust control. By having this knob on the front panel, there’s no pause in creativity and no need to unrack gear in the middle of a session when you need to zero out the VU meter. The original style of Scandinavian tube-opto compression has earned its place among the most coveted studio compressors, and the WA-1B makes all of these tones and features readily available to producers and engineers - no waitlist required.
Premium Components - Elite Build Quality - Superior Sound
Premium Name-Brand Tubes
One of the key elements of the WA-1B’s sonic signature is the analog warmth of the makeup gain. Using premium vacuum tubes, the WA-1B adds rich character after the compression stage to deliver a dynamically-balanced signal without sacrificing tone.
Custom Transformer From Lundahl Sweden
We paired the true-to-spec Scandinavian circuit design with two custom large-core transformers from Lundahl in Sweden. Transformer selection plays a critical role in the rich analog tone and signal transfer that help deliver smooth compression with more control.
Controls
Threshold
The WA-1B supports a variable threshold giving maximum control to the user regarding how much compression is applied to any signal at various input levels.
Ratio
The WA-1B ratio is variable and has infinite controls between 2:1 and 10:1. From soft musical dynamic control all the way to hard-smashing compression.
Attack and Release
The Attack/Release controls on the WA-1B are unique in that the attack/release operations can be switched to a fixed setting, manual (variable) setting, or combined setting. In the fixed mode, the WA-1B delivers the natural attack and release time of the optical element. The combined setting in particular creates the opportunity for a more nuanced release-time curve. This dueling time-constant circuit operation is a special feature of the WA-1B and its original inspiration.
Meter Switch
The WA-1B meter switch has three settings: input, compression, and output levels. Set to Input, the VU meter reads the level at the input connector. Set to Compression, the VU meter is reading gain reduction. The steady state is 0, and the amount of compression is shown as the needle moving right-to-left away from 0 dB. Set to Output, the VU meter reads the level at the output connector.
